Residents in the village of Amelia were successful at changing liquor laws in the village with a special election petition that was on the ballot Nov. 6.

Stores in the village could already sell liquor by the bottle, but the change will allow for liquor to be sold by the glass and on Sunday.

To change the law, residents had to vote “yes” to several questions on the ballot. The issue also had to pass in all three Amelia precincts.

Results from the election were overwhelmingly in favor of the changes, with nearly 80 percent of voters in most precincts in favor of changing each of the liquor laws.

Bob Pollitt, a resident and a council member in the village, spearheaded the efforts to get the petition on the ballot.

“When I checked the results after the election, I thought ‘Son of a gun, it really went through and they answered all the right questions with all the right answers,’” Pollitt said.

Pollitt said he put a lot of time in doing paperwork and getting things cleared to begin the process. He said several individuals help him obtain the required number of signatures needed to get the issues on the ballot and continue the process when he fell ill.

“Three or people jumped in to take over my leg work,” Pollitt said. “If it wasn’t for those people it may have been passed, but the fact that they did a tremendous job was enough to get it to go by.”

Pollitt said with so much work involved in getting the issues on the ballot, and then so many residents to talk with and persuade, he wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.

“I didn’t know if it was going to pass or not,” Pollitt said. “And it passed by leaps and bounds.”

Pollitt said he is hopeful that the change in the liquor law will be an asset to the village by attracting higher-end restaurants, and in turn, other business.

“You figure with this monstrous Kroger store coming in you might pull in a really nice restaurant,” Pollitt said. “They’ve got several outlots and the fact that there will be a liquor passage available that will help move their outlots.”

Pollitt said he has felt like development in the village has been stalemated for several years, and he thought that changing the liquor law would help continue to bring businesses to the village.

“I want to thank the village for the tremendous votes they gave that issue,” Pollitt said.